May 19, 2014

Tyrone Crawford didn’t get a chance to show the Cowboys much of anything last year. He tore his Achilles on the first day of training camp.

This year, Crawford hopes to show that he can be a defensive tackle.

The Cowboys have moved the third-year veteran to the 3-technique, hoping he and Henry Melton can provide a good one-two punch at the most important position in the Tampa Two.

“I just want to get him in a position where he can really showcase what he can do,” Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. “That position either you showcase or you don’t. If he can’t do that, then yeah, he’s a good left end, too. He’s solid, really good at left end. But you always have to have at least two of those guys [at the three-technique]. You have to. It’s a hard position to play. If you’ve got a guy who can come in and rotate with a guy in there, boy, it’s tough, and in third downs, if you find a nickel inside rusher…. I think he’s got a lot of that. I’m going to really challenge him, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Marinelli said Crawford has gotten bigger and stronger. The Cowboys listed him at 284 pounds last year. The Bears listed Melton at 295 last year.

“I would sure like to see [Crawford find a home inside],” Marinelli said. “See how he comes in and does it and explodes. I just think the movement and the explosion he has. He’s strong. He’s a guy who puts on weight or takes it off. It’s easy for him.”

May 18, 2014

Ryan Williams will get the chance in Dallas he didn't get in Arizona because of injuries. Williams agreed to terms with the Cowboys on Saturday, though Jason Garrett said Sunday night the team still was contemplating who to release.

"We just think he’s a good football player," Garrett said Sunday night at the team's 10th annual Taste of the NFL. "He was a guy we regarded very highly coming out in the draft. He was one of the best backs in the draft that year, and somebody we thought a lot of. He’s gone there, and he’s had some injuries. He had injuries in ’11 and ’12. Then, he was injury-free last year but just didn’t play because of what their running-back situation was and their roster makeup. But he’s someone when we watched him on tape, he played mostly in 2012, before he hurt his shoulder, and he looks like the back we saw coming out of school. We did our due diligence, and we feel like bringing in a guy like that in to compete at that running back spot is good for our team."

The Cardinals made Williams the 38th overall pick in 2011, but injuries limited him to only five games in three seasons. He has 164 career yards on 58 carries.

Dallas had four running backs on its roster last season, with DeMarco Murray, Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar returning this season. Phillip Tanner was not re-signed. Texas A&M's Ben Malena and Baylor's Glasco Martin are on the roster as undrafted free agents.

Brandon Carr didn’t suggest putting it in a “3-inch headline” as former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson once did. But Carr wrote his headline Sunday night when he said he and the Cowboys are ready to “take over the league.”

“That’s going to be your headline,” Carr said knowingly.

To that end, Carr has lost 10 pounds and boasts that he is in the best shape of his life.

“I’m trying to take over the league,” Carr said while attending the team’s 10th annual Taste of the NFL to tackle childhood hunger. “I get emotional when I say that because I’m dead serious, man. I’ve been playing this game for six years now, and I’m just ready to make that jump and become that shutdown corner.”

Carr has played in two systems in his two seasons since signing a five-year, $50.1 million free-agent deal that made him one of the richest corners in the league. He and the Cowboys struggled mightily last season.

Dallas allowed the third-most yards in NFL history, and Carr gave up the third-most catches in the NFL (62) as well as 966 yards and three touchdowns, according to STATS, Inc.

With a new defensive coordinator in Rod Marinelli, Carr expects the scheme to allow the team’s corners to do what they do best. Carr, Orlando Scandrick and Morris Claiborne would to play more man coverage this season.

“That’s the plan,” Carr said. “As this thing gets on a run, we’ll see how it shakes out, but we just want to be in a position to win ball games. We felt like we disappointed ourselves last year. We’ve got a big chip on our shoulders. But last year is the past, and it’s time for us to clean the slate and get ready to play this year.”

The team's record, the defense's struggles and his own struggles have made for a rough first two seasons in Dallas for Carr, who spent his first four seasons in Kansas City. He now is trying to make the third year the charm.

"It was frustrating for a minute, which is why I had a good off-season, because I got away from everything and just kind of regrouped to get myself prepared for everything that’s going to come to me this year," Carr said. "It’s been kind of a rollercoaster like I said many times before, but at the same time, I worked hard to get to this position. I’m going to continue to work hard and embrace everything that comes my way, the good and the bad, but now it’s time to step up and take charge and get my guys ready to go on Sundays."

After watching the team draft another offensive lineman in the first round, tight end Jason Witten said it’s clear the Cowboys are sticking to their commitment to run the ball better.

“I think it says a lot about where our football team’s headed,” he said Sunday as he wrapped up his football camp at Grand Prairie High School. “It was huge for us, because for a long time, we didn’t have that solidified. I think it speaks volumes for where we’re at and where we’re trying to go.”

Witten said he was as curious as anyone else when the Cowboys were picking at No. 16 and Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel was available.

But the Cowboys went with perhaps the safest pick on the board, Notre Dame tackle Zack Martin, and made him the third No. 1 pick added to the offensive line in the past four drafts by the Cowboys.

“I kind of thought they wouldn’t do it, but obviously I thought he would probably be gone before that point,” Witten said of Manziel, who was drafted six picks later by the Cleveland Browns. “I thought it was pretty amazing to see the circus that was, anticipating that pick. I think everybody’s adrenalin got going when that was going on.

“I think he’s a good player and he’ll have a lot of success in this league. But I think for us and the commitment to Tony, I’ve said it throughout our careers, I think he’s an elite, elite quarterback and going to bring us a championship here.”

So Witten appreciates the effect a reliable offensive line can have for Romo, who will enter this season coming off two backs surgeries in 2013. The Cowboys put Martin at right guard in the rookie minicamp this weekend, so they’re likely thinking of a line that includes 2011 No. 1 pick Tyron Smith at left tackle, Ronald Leary at left guard, 2013 No. 1 pick Travis Frederick at center, Martin at right guard and veteran Doug Free at right tackle.

“If you’re just picking guys to say, ‘Hey, we’re shoring up a spot that’s important to us,’ that’s one thing. But I mean, these guys are really good players,” Witten said. “I think Tyron’s as good of an offensive linemen as there is in the National Football League. Travis is everything you want at center – he’s smart, he’s tough, dependable, only going to get better in his second year. And now, Zack. I think when you do that, it just makes your entire football team go. I think this is a league where if you can be good upfront, everything else flows off of that.”

DeMarco Murray ran for 1,121 yards last year, ending a six-year drought of 1,000-yard rushers for the Cowboys.

“DeMarco was able to have over 1,000 yards rushing, and we still didn’t run the ball enough,” Witten said. “We weren’t good enough at it. That wasn’t because we didn’t want to – we just weren’t efficient enough when we needed to be. If you have the ability to run the ball when you want, everything flows off of that. The play action’s better. The dropback game is better. The screens are better. And more imporantly, you’re keeping these opposing offenses off the field. I think that’s something we’ve made a priority. And we need to build off of that and do a better job than last year.”

DeMarcus Lawrence shares one thing with DeMarcus Ware: The same first name. Although Boise State spelled Lawrence's first name without a capital "M," Lawrence said Saturday that his first name is spelled just like the defensive end who holds the team's all-time sacks record.

"That’s how it is on my birth certificate," Lawrence said Saturday. "My mom always spelled my name with a capital M, so I’m going to keep it like that."

The Cowboys released Ware this off-season, and he signed as a free agent with the Broncos. They then moved up 13 spots in the second round to draft Lawrence, who will play the same right defensive spot that Ware did last season.

"It’s a great opportunity to come in and earn a spot on this team really," Lawrence said. "DeMarcus Ware set the standards very high, and it’s great, but I have a job to do now. He’s got a job in Denver. I’ve got a job here with the Cowboys."

The Cowboys had Lawrence rated among the top three right defensive ends, behind only Jadeveon Clowney and Anthony Barr. Clowney was the No. 1 overall pick, and Barr went ninth.

Lawrence had 20 sacks and 34 tackles for loss the past two seasons when he started 23 games.

"I felt it when we worked him out," Marinelli said. "I felt it some of the things in his Pro Day. I can feel some of the things here. But now everything speeds up. The biggest thing these guys have got to do is sometimes whatever worked for you doesn’t work [in the NFL]. The sets are different; the hand placements for the O-linemen are different. So now it’s just day to day, day to day. Try to develop the habits. Try to develop a signature move and what is a counter. When you get that, you’re doing OK. But that’s months of work."

Bill Callahan could be somewhere else, but he is here, because the Cowboys wanted him here.

After the Cowboys took away Callahan's play-calling duties, the Browns and the Ravens asked for permission to interview him. Dallas declined, with Callahan forced to stay for the final year of his contract as the team's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

"I just take on the mindset that things happen for a reason," Callahan said. "I live with that, and I move on. I make the best of every situation I’m in. I’ve never worried about anything else. I’ve always had confidence in myself and my abilities to do a good job. My focus has always been to do a great job where I’m at, and everything else takes care of itself. I’m not concerned about any of that stuff.”

Callahan, who was hired before the 2012 season, took over play-calling duties from Jason Garrett last season. The Cowboys ranked 16th in total offense, and their 5,461 yards were the fewest by the franchise since 2005. But they did rank fifth in scoring at 27.4 points per game, their most since 2007.

The Cowboys hired Scott Linehan as their passing-game coordinator in January, giving him the play-calling duties. Though Callahan will continue to have a big role in the game plan, he won't have final say anymore.

“That’s all in the past,” Callahan said. “I just continue to focus in. My mindset is looking toward the future and what we’re doing here with the offensive line and my role and my responsibilities now. I really don’t look back. I just keep working forward and trying to do the best I can.”

May 17, 2014

That Morris Claiborne has been a disappointment in two years with the Cowboys that no one on the staff tries to sugar coat things anymore.

He was billed as the best cornerback prospect since Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. The Cowboys thought so much of him they traded up in 2012 to take him with the sixth overall pick.

Claiborne has responded with two injury plagued seasons, featuring just two interceptions in 25 games played, while losing his starting job to former nickel cornerback Orlando Scandrick.

But while the Cowboys have been disappointed, secondary coach Jerome Henderson said no one in organization is ready to give up on Claiborne.

"Obviously when you draft a guy that high you want him to be your guy," Henderson said. "Again, we hope he becomes that guy. We hope he becomes that guy that when you look out there no matter what down it is he’s out there guarding somebody, locking him up. We still think that is who he is."

Henderson said Claiborne has worked this off season on getting stronger in hopes of staying healthy from beginning to end. That to the Cowboys is the first step in Claiborne finally reaching his potential.

"I just hope the kid can stay healthy the whole season that we all get to see the player he is," Henderson said. "Will he do that? Gosh, I hope so. I know he’s working his butt off now, he’s healthy now, he’s moving around well now, so I hope he stays at the level he’s at now and continues to get better from there. I hope this is the year he breaks through from that standpoint."

Claiborne badly needs a break through year as the Cowboys face difficult decision on him next off season when they must determine whether to pick up his fifth-year option. The current price for that is $10.1 million. It will likely go up with all the new contracts being signed by cornerbacks.

Claiborne's production and status as the third cornerback behind Scandrick and Brandon Carr has proven him worthy of that kind of continued investment.

"Scandrick is a really good NFL corner," Henderson said. "He’s a hell of a player. So it’s not like somebody, just some guy is playing in front of him. The guy playing in front of him is a really good NFL corner. Now he just happens to have the flexibility and he’s unique, he can go inside and play just as well inside as he does outside. It’s a luxury for us. But you drafted Mo to be a starting corner. You don’t spend a pick that high if you don’t think that, so we hope he develops and plays to that level."

DeMarcus Lawrence hadn't even had time to cut the hospital bracelet off his left arm after arriving back in DFW at 5:30 a.m. Saturday. The second-round pick participated in his first practice Saturday, having missed the first day of rookie minicamp for the birth of his first child.

Lawrence watched on FaceTime on Thursday morning at 7:43 a.m. as his son, Damari, was born, weighing in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce. After a flight delay, the defensive end arrived at the Boise hospital at midnight.

"Amazing thing," Lawrence said. "I didn’t think a kid could change your life just by birth that way. He made me so humble. Just made me open my eyes and make me look at the bigger picture of life.

"It motivates me a lot knowing I got a mouth to feed. It’s not just about me anymore. I got a little son now, so really it's all about him, how I raise him and how I put food on the table for him."

Lawrence continued to impress the Cowboys on Saturday. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said Lawrence has "good stuff."

Things didn't go as planned when defensive end Reggie Wilson left Haltom High School in 2010 for the University of Texas.

His college football career was disappointing at best for the former five-star recruit. He never broke into the starting lineup and finished with three career sacks in four years.

Wilson, who joined the Cowboys' rookie minicamp on a tryout basis Saturday, still has hopes of playing in the NFL, but it took a back seat to him his graduation ceremony this weekend.

He may not have left Texas as a football star, but he did leave with a degree. It was so important that Williams shunned an offer for a tryout with the Saints at their rookie minicamp. The Cowboys were more accommodating, allowing him to miss the workouts on Friday and come for the final two days on Saturday and Sunday.

"Dallas gave me a chance to come down this morning," Wilson said. "I couldn't miss graduation. I walked the stage on Friday. I'm really thankful. The Saints wanted me to miss graduation. I said I couldn't do that. (Cowboys scout) Chris (Hall) called me and said, 'We've got an opening, come see what you can do.' I'm thankful. I just wanted a chance to show what I can do. If it's not good enough, that's OK."

The Cowboys changed the schedule for their rookie minicamp after a rash of injuries in Friday's two practices. The rookies worked without helmets in the two-a-day practices Saturday, with each practice lasting only 45 minutes.

The walk-through-type practices came after several players missed Saturday's work with injuries. The Cowboys added Texas defensive end Reggie Wilson as a tryout player before Saturday's practices.

“We just want to make sure the numbers were right,” Garrett said of the scaled-back practices. “We could’ve functioned in practice today and pushed them through it but felt it was better just to make sure we got the quality work in.”

Garrett said the plan is to dial things back up for Sunday morning's practice, with the rookies again wearing helmets.